Radon, Thoron and Polonium Concentrations Estimated in Building Materials Samples Collected from Al-Shatra, Dhi-Qar, Iraq

Radon, Thoron and their short-lived daughters have a high contribution to background radiation, as long-term exposure causes the risk of lung cancer. In current study, five types of building materials with a total 55 samples in Al-Shatra City, Dhi-Qar Governorate, Iraq collected to measure the radon and thoron concentration by using CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector. The results showed that the average radon concentrations in all samples were (103.53±55.94) Bqm⁻³, while the average thoron concentration was (53.20±44.69) Bqm⁻³. On the other hand, the annual effective dose of radon ranged between (0.85-6.46) msvy⁻¹, with an average of 2.61msvy⁻¹. While, for thoron concentration was ranged between (0.12-3.28) msvy⁻¹, with an average of 1.49 msvy⁻¹. The annual effective dose was found acceptable limit (3-10 msvy⁻¹) recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). On the other side, the average Polonium concentrations (²¹⁸Po, ²¹⁴Po) have been found to be 2.053 KBqm⁻³, 0.866 KBqm⁻³, respectively.